Wheat, oilseeds markets eased, but the scale of the moves was inconsistent. Brent crude eased 3pc. The US dollar index gained.
- Chicago wheat May 2023 contract down US12.75 cents per bushel to 750c/bu;
- Kansas wheat May 2023 contract down 24c/bu at 869.5c/bu;
- Minneapolis wheat May 2023 contract down 9.75c/bu to 909c/bu;
- MATIF wheat May 2023 contract down €6.50/t to €279.75/t;
- Black Sea wheat March 2023 contract down US$1.50/t to $300.50;
- Corn May 2023 contract down 6.25c/bu to 674.25c/bu;
- Soybeans May 2023 contract down 9.25c/bu to 1534.75c/bu;
- Winnipeg canola May 2023 contract down C0.20/t to $831.70/t;
- MATIF rapeseed May 2023 contract down €2.75/t to €558/t;
- ASX Mar 2023 wheat contract unchanged at A$394/t;
- ASX Mar 2023 barley contract up A$0.80/t to $328.80/t;
- AUD dollar was down about 50 points to US$0.680.
International
Ukraine will reportedly ask Turkey and the UN to start talks to roll over the Black Sea Grain Initiative, seeking an extension of at least one year that would include the ports of Mykolaiv, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.
A Bloomberg survey of 24 analysts’ guesses prior to this week’s publication of USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum 2023-24 US production estimates pitched the following averages;
- corn area 90.9 million acres (88.6mln ac 2022-23),
- corn production 14.888 billion bushels (13.73bln bu 2022-23),
- soybean area 88.6 million acres (87.5mln ac 2022-23),
- Soybean production 4.510 bln bu (4.28bln bu 2022-23),
- all-wheat area 48.5 million acres (45.7mln ac 2022-23),
- and all-wheat production 1.882 bln bu (1.650bln bu 2022-23).
According to European Commission data at 19 Feb, cumulative 2022-23 (Jul/Jun) all-wheat shipments were 20.8Mt (+5pc on previous year), all-wheat imports 5.9Mt (+107pc), maize exports 1.1Mt (-71pc), maize imports 17.1Mt (+63pc), and barley exports 5.4Mt (-26pc).
Russian wheat was the lowest offer in the Egyptian GASC tender at US$317.50/t CandF.
Japan’s MAFF purchased a total of 94,387t milling wheat, including 7,004t soft white wheat and 28,560t HRW from the US, 35,293t CWRS from Canada and 23,530t ASW from Australia.
Iraq has issued a tender for 200kt milling wheat, only seeking supplies from the US, Australia, or Canada.
Turkey has issued an international tender for 790kt milling wheat.
Jordan’s state grains buyer reportedly purchased around 60,000t milling wheat from optional origins, at an estimated price of $333/t c&f, for Jul shipment.
Australia
Local markets were mixed. ASX March was unchanged at $394/t while May closed $1/t lower at $397/t. Geelong APW1 spot price was $5/t higher at $400/t, while Kwinana APW1 was down $3 at $406/t.
It has been a relatively dry week for major sorghum growing regions. Storms brought higher totals for some isolated areas with up to 25mm falling in parts of southern QLD and northern NSW. The 8-day forecast is also looking dry, except for northeast NSW, which is looking at less than 10mm.
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